how do you make boring pieces with single note bass lines sound better without sounding repetitious?

If it's jazz band, leave the bass line out.

..and that's all I can think of off the top of my head. What sort of song are you talking about?

Try adding some "movement". Also, avoid using whole notes so often.

its those church songs... and i play the piano. the only movement i do in the bass is 1-5-8, which is pretty basic and sounds repetitious

^Also, (I forgot to say that) you should try to avoid arpeggios at well.

If these are traditional hymns and you have time to prepare beforehand, try writing out a counterpoint line for the left hand. It doesn't have to be for the whole hymn; it can just be for a phrase or two to highlight their importance.

If these are closer to praise music, see if you can get recordings of performances of the song and imitate parts that you like. Personally, I don't really mind the 1-5-8 (unless you mean 1-5-8-5-1-5-8-5, etc.), since it's a song played for the church to sing and needs to be easy to follow. I tend to start each chord with a 1-5-8, actually, and then add on a little bit more. Example: C to Dm: C', G', C, D, E, F, G, Bb, D'/A (where C is middle C, and those marked with a ' are just below middle C). Also, even though this is a "left hand" line, you'll probably want to take the upper half in the right hand, combined with whatever melody line is there at the time.

Other starts you might want to try out: 1-5-10(--9-8-10-8, for example), 1-0-1-2-3(-5-8-10)

you could accompany the melody with cadences :think: that requires some theory knowledge though :/

So does ^^that, I would think.

oooh thanks a lot you guys!!

by the way is there any way to make the melody sound better :sweat: most of the treble is single crotchet notes which sounds rather boring.. haha!

Add dynamic contrast; that's what my conductor always tells us.